Australia used to have state-based emissions trading schemes, before they were ditched in favour of the now-abandoned national one. State premiers might say there's no way to resurrect them, but there is.

Climate diplomacy: in a another joint announcement from the US and China, president Xi Jinping committed to an emissions trading scheme in 2017.
EPA/Michael ReynoldsSeptember 26, 2015

Chinese President Xi Jinping has made a landmark commitment on climate change, pledging to launch what will become the world's largest and most important emissions trading scheme when it begins in 2017.

To win the vote of some conservative Liberals Malcolm Turnbull made it clear that he would stick with the present climate policy and not contemplate an ETS.
Lukas Coch/AAPSeptember 25, 2015

Malcolm Turnbull, it seems, cannot escape the emissions trading scheme (ETS) bogey. This time, it comes in the form of China’s plan – which had been foreshadowed but is now confirmed – to introduce a national…

In 2010 Malcolm Turnbull threatened to cross the floor to vote for emissions trading. Polls suggest the public would back him now, even if his party won’t.
AAP Image/Alan PorrittSeptember 18, 2015

Australia's government boasts of being one of the few nations to hit its Kyoto emissions target. But is it any wonder, when the Howard government successfully lobbied to make it almost unmissably easy?

Scaling back coalmining is one way Australia could make big progress towards its emissions targets.
CSIRO/Wikimedia CommonsApril 21, 2015

The Climate Change Authority has recommended Australia cut greenhouse gas emissions 30% below 2000 levels by 2025. While sensible, the government is unlikely to accept, and the target misses bigger opportunities to cut emissions.

Climate change, now belatedly added to the agenda for this month’s G20 meeting in Brisbane, is a perennial topic whenever leaders gather for international summits. That’s understandable, given that countries…

There’s little point in getting too excited just yet about the details of Direct Action and its merits (or otherwise) as compared with emissions trading. Why? Because all of the current debate about Australia’s…

Bernie Fraser of the Climate Change Authority, environment minister Greg Hunt, and Clive Palmer announce a deal on a plan to cut Australia’s emissions this decade. What happens after that isn’t so clear.
AAPImage/Alan PorrittOctober 31, 2014

With the passage of the Emissions Reduction Fund through the Senate last night, the federal government has taken a step towards achieving Australia’s minimum target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to…

Environment minister Greg Hunt and Palmer United Party leader Clive Palmer have agreed to an inquiry into an emissions trading scheme.
AAP/Alan PorrittOctober 29, 2014

There are a few notable absentees among the more than 120 world leaders gathered in New York for today’s United Nations Climate Summit. Perhaps most notable of all is the head of the world’s highest-emitting…

Economic reforms such as a national carbon price could usher in dramatic changes on China’s energy landscape.
Vmenkov/Wikimedia CommonsSeptember 19, 2014

In the lead-up to the UN leaders’ summit on climate change, China is shifting up a gear in its drive towards national emissions trading. Yet for carbon pricing to be effective, market reform in China’s…

Clive Palmer, with the unlikely backing of Al Gore, may have found a way to salvage something from Australia’s looming climate policy vacuum.
AAPImage/Alan PorrittAugust 26, 2014

Climate policy is back on the agenda in Canberra this week, with the focus on the government’s centrepiece Direct Action plan. The Coalition will have to negotiate with the Palmer United Party, which will…